Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Butterfly Dream: Inner Child Haiku by Alan Summers

English Original

Milky Way Train
I bring my inner child
down to earth

hedgerow, 1, September 2014

Alan Summers


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

銀河列車
幫助我的內心兒童
腳踏實地

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

银河列车
帮助我的内心儿童
脚踏实地 


Bio Sketch

Alan Summers, Bradford on Avon, England, is a Japan Times award-winning writer with a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. He is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet working on The Kigo Lab project to use the potential of Western seasons for eco-critical writing within haiku. More at: http://area17.blogspot.com and www.withwords.org.uk

2 comments:

  1. Alan's message haiku, which deals mainly with childlike innocence now and then, works really well through his effective use of these symbolically rich and culturally significant phrases, "Milky Way Train" and "inner child," and it reminds me of the following train haiku by Edward Huddleston:

    old train set
    I unbox
    my inner child

    Note: L1 reminds me of Miyazawa Kenji’s space odyssey novel, "Night on the Milky Way Train," in which Professor Burkaniro appears toward the end of Giovanni's train ride to tell him, "You must get off this train of dream and stride boldly ahead, surmounting the rough seas of the real world."

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  2. Thank you! Yes, deeply inspired by Miyazawa Kenji’s "Night on the Milky Way Train and the various imitations in book, film, and haiku.

    Yes, Edward Huddleston wrote his 15 months after mine was published:
    http://tinywords.com/2015/12/24/19915/

    Dave Read also writes on the theme of trains that might be real or coming out of a box:

    night train
    a whistle sounds
    from the toy box

    Dave Read
    Hedgerow #84 July 1, 2016

    I guess it touches on our generation, the magic of trains both as Christmas presents, and our first real experiences.

    Deep appreciation,

    Alan

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